Samples raise hopes for gold on the Iron Range

A swath of northeast Minnesota has long been called the iron range, but some prospectors are hoping it might someday be known as the gold range.

Officials with the state Department of Natural Resources have found promising results in tests from soil near Tower and Soudan pointing to possible gold in bedrock there.

The samples contained an encouraging number of tiny gold grains that are rough, meaning they likely originated from a nearby source. Smooth grains indicate that they were worn smooth while traveling in glacier movement. Though the discovery is still a far cry from finding actual gold deposits, officials warn, it’s also not surprising to geologists who have long suspected northern Minnesota is golden.

http://www.startribune.com/samples-raise-hopes-for-gold-on-the-iron-range/366646061/